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Milk Kefir (New and Improved)

Remember my first milk kefir post? It was one of the first and one of my favorites – easy and nutritious and I was really happy with it. Then a sweet little lady from Spirited Rose Dairy suggested using less kefir grains.

Whaaaat?

Did you hear the tires screech? What did you just say?

Use less kefir grains?

No way.

So after a little back and forth ( see the comments) I decided the only way to settle this was to see for myself.

A Little Background

My kefir was struggling. I had a quarter of a cup of grains something shy of a half gallon half gallon. It was lumpy, and seemed to culture way too fast. But before I could even post a cry for help I got help from my own comment section! I love helpful comments and this was one of them.

The Experiment
I did a side by side test and used a tablespoon and a teaspoon. The one with less grains turned out smoother and creamy and much less pucker tart and a more “drinkable” tang. It was also smoother and had a better “yeast fiz”.

Needless to say I am sold on less grains!

So here is the new and improved super easy easy Milk Kefir recipe with LESS grain and less time!

Milk Kefir

Place a TEASPOON of kefir grains in the bottom of a clean, glass quart jar. (kefir does not like metal)

Fill with milk (fresh, raw, preferred).

Cover with a tea towel. Stir every once in a while with a wooden spoon, if you like.

Come back in 18 hours to milk kefir.

That is IT. Really easy.

Tips and such:

1. Temp matters. Try keep the milk around “room temperature” if you can. During the summer or by your crock-pot (oops) kefir can culture very quickly, 12 hours or less even. Keep an eye on it for separating of whey. When kefir is slightly thick (about like real maple syrup consistency) and the grains have spread over the top of the milk. It is done.

Don’t worry if you let the kefir go a little too long. The flavor is stronger but it is fine to eat. You could make kefir cheese!

2. Your initial culture can take up to 48 hours if you received your grain dehydrated via mail. Follow the instructions you get with your grains. Once established it really should be as easy as pour the milk and cover and wait.

3. Enjoy the process. Learning how to ferment food is fun and delicious.